tudorsfandomcom-20200214-history
Queen Consorts of England
The following is a list of '''Queen Consorts '''who were queens during Henry's reign of England. There were six consorts, but Henry argueably loved his third consort Jane Seymour the best. Catherine of Aragon - She was Henry's first wife and the first Queen Consort of England during his reign, a daughter of Spanish royalty. She reigned longer than all the other queens combined; the king initially loved her dearly, but her greater age lead to menopause when the king was still seeking a male heir, and she fell out of favor despite continuing to maintain loyalty and love fore Henry. She was succeeded by Anne Boleyn. Children: Mary I Tudor, Queen of England. Anne Boleyn- The second wife and second Queen Consort of England during his reign. Anne was Henry's most important, exotic and powerful Queen Consort, as she influenced his most dramatic reforms; however, she was also the least popular. Many enemies came after her when she fell out of Henry's favor for also not producing a son, leading to her execution on false charges. She was succeeded by Jane Seymour, Henry's favourite consort. Children: Elizabeth I Tudor, Queen of England. Jane Seymour- Henry's third wife and third Queen Consort of England during his reign. She was definitely his most beloved consort, as she was the only consort to have a male heir and had a very gentle disposition; however, she died soon after,plunging the king into grief. Children: Edward VI Tudor, King of England Anne of Cleves- Fourth wife and Queen Consort from the German state of Cleves, but most likely Henry's least favourite wife. She was supposedly as ugly as a flanders mare, and they were sexually incompatible, but after their agreeable annullment (less than a year after the wedding) they became good friends, and she also befriended his children. Katherine Howard- The fifth wife and Queen Consort, Henry obviously cared for her but her young age and immaturity caused her own downfall, and she was never very popular; Henry's love for her was also somewhat superficial since her youth and sexual appetite made him feel young again. When Henry's old leg wounds meant he could no longer satisfy her sex drive, she turned to adultery, which lead to her beheding. Catherine Parr- The sixth and last Queen Consort of England during Henry's reign. Henry was clearly attracted to her but she was not in love with the King, only having eyes for the dashing Thomas Seymour. She acted as a kindly stepmother to Mary, Elizabeth and Edward and took care of the King tirelessly in his old age. Of the six consorts, only the first three truly returned the King's affections, and only they provided him with children. Henry, in return, genuinely loved all his consorts (to varying degrees) except Anne of Cleves, who later became a close friend. Favourite consort Henry had six consorts, but he definitely loved Jane Seymour the best. She gave him a male heir, and although Edward died young, Henry had no knowledge of this. He adored Jane Seymour, in both reality and the series, and was buried beside her, his request when he was alive. In the series, Henry spends an entire episode isolating himself in his chambers after Jane Seymour's death. Henry also had a great deal of love for Anne Boleyn, although it was at first highly sexual; he also became entranced by her intelligence and boldness which initially made him see her as an equal- until she failed to provide him a son, just as Catherine had. Henry's love for Anne was very genuine and intense, but like that for Catherine it gradually soured. Also, it was later blighted by his denounciation of her -long after her death- on the false charges of adultery that were raised against her. His original love for Catherine was also legendary (and was echoed by the Engish people to the day she died) but their age difference contributed to the inability to have further children, and as Henry increasingly sabotaged the marriage through his phillandering (particularly hurtful in the eyes of Catherine, a devout Catholic) they withdrew from one another. The Final Dream Not long before Henry's death but after the death of his best friend Charles Brandon, he had a series of dreams/hallucinations showing him his children and his three most beloved Queens, all of whom were long dead. Each of these visions gave him a hint of what would happen to each of his children. First came Catherine of Aragon, with her daughter Mary; this occurred when Henry was posing for his famous portrait by Hans Holbein. Henry showed clear remorse for his constant abuse of his marriage to her in this scene. Catherine rebuked Henry for having never gotten around to betrothing their beloved daughter when the timing was right, and his neglect of her as well; she mentioned how Mary should have been married and had children by now, and that she was proud of her. Henry feebly told Catherine to leave, but Catherine simply replied that Henry had sent her away before. Catherine's final words were "I was still your wife in God's eyes- and still am." Although Mary married King Philip of Spain, this was only after she took the throne for five short years- a reign she was unsuited for, and which produced no children, like her siblings. Second came Anne Boleyn, with her daughter Elizabeth, while Henry was alone in his study one night, suffering from pain in his ulcered leg. Henry was initially hostile towards this hallucination until Anne stated she had come to see their daughter, whom she described as being as clever and shrewd as she had been, but not so intemperent. She expressed fierce pride in Elizabeth and regret that she'd had so little time with her- having neglected raising her herself in favor of trying to give Henry a son. Henry stated that he noticed her intelligence and was also proud of her, but he avoided her sometimes because she reminded him of Anne and what she had 'done to him'. Anne angrily replied that she was innocent of her accusations and had done nothing to him; she pitied the deceased Katherine Howard, who like her was a 'moth who came to a flame, and so burned.' As Anne and Elizabeth departed, Henry called despairingly for her to come back. Their mutual pride in Elizabeth would be well-founded, as she became the longest-reigning and most effective monarch in the Tudor dynasty. Thirdly came Jane Seymour, with her son Edward. Again, this illusion came at night, when Henry was pacing in his empty throne room. After greeting her as his truly beloved, Henry assured her that he had done everything to keep Edward safe and that he was the most beloved of Henry's children, but she did not acknowledge this. Although she died two weeks after Edward was born, Jane described him as her 'poor boy' and rebuked Henry for forcing too much onto him, saying he would die young. Henry desperately tried to deny it as his most treasured wife and child dissapeared. Edward, who came to the throne at an extremely young age, indeed died before he was eighteen years old and left no issue.